A ‘Notorious’ 2016 for Ginsburg and Comey

The justice’s politicking and the FBI director’s appropriation of prosecutorial authority likely did lasting damage.

By

Laurence H. Silberman

Feb. 24, 2017 6:22 pm ET

Last year we experienced a rather spirited presidential election season. It was probably the fiercest of my lifetime. But we should not be troubled by heated political campaigns. They are the occasional episodes that mark a healthy democracy.

In one respect, however, the 2016 election campaign was quite troubling. We saw two of our most important legal institutions—the Supreme Court and the Justice Department—bend in the political winds.